Most present-day movie theaters typically possess some type of automated warning system for alerting theater patrons of an emergency condition such as a fire or the like. Such systems usually include one or more sensing devices, e.g., smoke detectors or heat sensors, connected to a controller that typically comprises the heart of an automation system. In response to an emergency condition detected by one or more sensing devices, such as the presence of excessive heat or smoke, the controller automatically will raise the theater house lights. At the same time, the controller will cause the movie projector to power off and thus cease operation. Additionally, the controller typically can trigger one or more warning devices, such as a strobe light, bell, siren, buzzer or any combination thereof.
Warning systems of the type described above have proven generally effective to alert theater patrons of the existence of an emergency condition, such as a fire or the like. However, such systems nonetheless suffer from the disadvantage of being unable to provide visual messages that could aid theater patrons in evacuating the theater. For example, in the event of a fire, displaying a message on the screen indicating the nature of the emergency and the specific location of theater exits could prove extremely useful.
The obvious mechanism for providing such a visual warning would be to make use of the theater's existing movie projector for this purpose. Unfortunately, most present day movie theaters utilize analog projection equipment ill-suited for this purpose. A typical analog motion picture projector operates to display a moving picture on the theater screen on by advancing a succession of individual images on the film past a projector lamp. Attempting to project a single frame on the screen for any extended period of time, such as a single frame containing a warning message would likely lead to damage to the film medium resulting from prolonged exposure to the intense heat of the projector lamp. Moreover, an additional problem exists in switching the film in the projector from the feature presentation to the film containing a warning message.
Thus a need exists for an automated warning system for use in a theater for automatically displaying a visual warning message.